Convicted Offender Backlogs
Although all 50 States have passed DNA database legislation, many States have backlogs of convicted offender samples that have been collected but have not yet been analyzed. Although Federal funding has played an important role in reducing existing backlogs, the crimefighting potential of DNA has prompted many States to revise their statutes to require nonviolent convicted offenders to provide a DNA sample for analysis and upload into CODIS. The trend toward expanding convicted offender DNA statutes to include nonviolent offenders has significantly increased the number of DNA samples requiring collection and analysis. Although the success of using the DNA database as a crime-solving and crime-prevention tool can easily be demonstrated once convicted offender backlogs are reduced, it should be recognized that new backlogs are instantly created by the passage of expanded DNA legislation laws. Convicted offender backlogs are an ongoing logistical issue that can compound the complexity of investigating cold cases by using the DNA database.
Forensic Casework Backlogs
Addressing issues that affect the efficient and effective use of DNA databases in the United States is complicated further by the existence of casework backlogs. This refers to biological evidence in perhaps tens of thousands of criminal cases, including violent and nonviolent crimes, that has not been tested or retested for DNA.
Unprocessed rape kits are a clear example of this kind of backlog. Despite the established fact that rape typically yields biological evidence, as of October 1999, at least 180,000 rape kits remained on shelves across the country, unprocessed, because no suspects have been identified. The DNA evidence from these and other criminal cases often is not analyzed and entered into the DNA database because forensic laboratories have to prioritize their work and cases scheduled for trial take precedence over cases in which no suspect is known. In most jurisdictions, nonsuspect criminal cases that contain biological evidence are not being analyzed and entered into the DNA database. In many jurisdictions, DNA from crime scenes is still primarily used to prosecute offenders, not to investigate crimes. The convicted offender backlog and limited resources for casework going to trial preclude State forensic laboratories from analyzing all biological evidence for DNA, which in turn prevents law enforcement from being able to realize the full crimesolving potential of CODIS.
The backlog of forensic cases has practical consequences for most law enforcement agencies in the United States. Laboratory capacity limitations result in the ability to process crime scene samples from only the most serious of offenses. More and more, however, agencies such as those in the United Kingdom are discovering the value of DNA technology in solving property crimes. Blood left on a broken apartment window or saliva found on a discarded beer bottle can be used to identify burglars, and the skin cells rubbed off onto the steering wheel of a stolen vehicle can solve car thefts. However, as long as forensic laboratories remain able to process only the most serious cases, the full potential of DNA technology to solve crime will remain untapped.
Some or all of the content on this page was excerpted from the Special Report Using DNA to Solve Cold Cases, developed under an award from the Office of Justice Program's National Institute of Justice. See award product disclaimer.
